Andreas Gryphius

Tears Of The fatherland Poem by Andreas Gryphius

So, now we are destroyed; utterly; more than utterly!The gang of shameless peoples, the maddening music of war,The sword fat with blood, the thundering of the gunsHave consumed our sweat and toil, exhausted our reserves.Towers are on fire, churches turned upside down;The town hall is in ruins, the strong cut down, destroyed.Young girls are raped; wherever we turn our gaze,Fire, plague, and death pierce heart and spirit through.Here, town and ramparts run with ever-fresh streams of blood.It's three times six years now, since our mighty river's flowWas blocked almost by corpses, just barely trickling through.Yet, I pass over in silence something more terrible than death,More desperate even than plague, fire and famine;That so many were bereaved of their soul's treasure too.